Happy Birthday, Peeta
by populardarling
Summary: Katniss wants to make Peeta's birthday special. Post-MJ


**A small drabble/one-shot that I wrote for Tumblr. Enjoy. :)**

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His birthday was coming up, and for once Katniss wanted to do something special for Peeta, something homemade. "He does so much for me," she told Haymitch while they nibbled on the rye bread Peeta had left them for lunch. "I want to return the favor. He deserves it." And Peeta did deserve it. After these rough few months of trying to repair themselves and figure out what they were, she wanted something normal, something happy. Or as happy as they could possibly reach. "I'm just not very good at gift giving," she confessed.

Haymitch had ripped another piece off the loaf and shoved it into his mouth. "I don't know what it is with you two and owing each other, but he's not expecting a parade, sweetheart." Katniss squirmed in her seat at the thought of being paraded in front of a crowd again. "Just do something any normal girlfriend would do."

"We're not dating," she quickly insisted. "We're just...us."

"Fine. Whatever. Make the boy dinner and, I don't know, get him paper or something. He should be happy with that."

The idea did sound good, and Peeta always made dinner. A birthday dinner would give him a night off, let him relax. Yes, a surprise dinner would definitely be a good gift for him. She'd make his favorite meal, maybe steal a bottle of Haymitch's finest to lighten the mood. It was perfect.

The only problem was she didn't know his favorite meal. At least something she could make. Katniss tried to think back to every meal they'd ever had together, but her own mind had been so transfixed on her plate she'd never noticed what Peeta ate.

She would just have to find out before his birthday.

Peeta was scooping vegetable soup into her bowl for dinner when she decided to ask. "You make soup a lot," Katniss observed, waiting for him to sit before lightly blowing on her meal.

"Can't go wrong with it," he smiled.

As expected, the soup tasted wonderful, with hints of the spices Peeta kept to himself, saying it was a family secret. She tapped the spoon on the side of her bowl and sighed, wondering how to go about asking him without making it too obvious what she planned to do.

"Is something the matter?" His eyebrows were scrunched together in concern, his hand gripping hard on his spoon. Katniss patted his hand and told him she was fine.

"I'm just thinking about soup," is all she said, taking another timid sip.

"Oh."

The dining room grew quiet, the only sounds were the scrapes of their spoons against bowls and Buttercup begging for scraps at Peeta's feet. It was typically how dinner went for them, but Katniss didn't want to chicken out on something like this. She wanted to make sure what she was making Peeta would be something he'd like.

"You know, when I..." A lump formed in her throat at the thought of her family. She cleared her throat and continued, "When I was little, my father used to make this dandelion salad, and my mother had this special dressing she'd pour on top. It was really simple, nothing like...like the Capitol food, but I'd always get excited whenever I'd see him walking back with a bag full of dandelions. It was my favorite meal."

It was too much, too obvious, and she shoved a spoonful of soup in her mouth to avoid blurting out anything that would trigger any emotional episode. Peeta wasn't stupid, and he always figured out whatever she was planning because he was perceptive, good with people, and Katniss was lucky if she could spit out a sentence every once in awhile.

He didn't seem to notice, empathetically smiling at her, like he always did whenever something from their past was mentioned. He understood how much it hurt to talk about the dead and the hopeless, and she was so thankful for that. Another reminder why Peeta deserved a special birthday dinner.

"I could call your mom for the dressing recipe. We could make it together."

"Yes," Katniss said slowly, "we could make it together. So now you know what mine was. Um, so what was your favorite meal?"

His eyes gleamed over in thought as he leaned back in his chair and thought for a moment. It wasn't often they talked about trivial things like favorite childhood foods, but it wasn't on the list of triggers Dr. Aurelius had given and that was all Katniss was concerned with as she watched his face carefully. Just because it wasn't on the list didn't mean Peeta didn't react lightly to distressing situations. His episodes were sparse, but when they came she ran, afraid of that Peeta. Sick and angry that after all they'd been through, he still was prone to violent acts toward her. It was always best to be safe.

"It sounds silly," Peeta chuckled, pulling her out of her thoughts, "but I loved when my dad would make fresh bread for dinner." It wasn't the answer she expected from the baker's son, and her face must have shown her surprise. "I've told you we always got stuck with the stale bread, the bread no one wanted," he explained, "but on special occasions, Dad would make a fresh loaf of bread for us. It was really rare, but I remember jumping up and down whenever I'd smell bread baking in our apartment's kitchen." He sheepishly smiled and looked down at his bowl of soup. "It's stupid, I know, Katniss, but it is what it is."

"I don't think it's stupid," she comforted, taking his hand in hers. "I...I think it's sweet, Peeta. I'm glad those memories aren't...aren't gone." His hand squeezed hers back in response and they resumed eating in silence.

Baking bread was harder than Peeta made it seem.

It was ridiculous, really. She'd made bread plenty of times with the tesserae grains her family received. It all seemed simple back then, but this recipe made it more complicated.

She followed every step.

She put in every ingredient.

She even imagined the dough being a mixture of Snow and Coin, punching and slamming their faces into the counter until her image was blurred with tears.

A simple loaf of bread should not be this complicated.

The bread was almost finished baking when the grandfather clock ringed, telling her Peeta would be home any minute. Katniss sat on the floor, face pressed again the over window, still covered in flour, and watched the loaf continue to bake. Her face was tear stained and puffy after her small episode with the dough, but part of her felt proud for sticking it out, finishing the bread for Peeta, instead of running to her bed or closet. It was definitely an improvement from months ago.

The front door opened, startling her from her bread watch, and Katniss scrambled to her feet and patted some of the flour off her pants.

"Happy birthday!" she congratulated when Peeta stepped into the kitchen.

His face broke out into a smile and laughed, looking around the flour covered kitchen. "I see you've been busy." He ran a finger across the countertop and rubbed the flour between his finger and thumb. "Flour? Do I smell bread?"

"I made dinner. Your favorite meal."

She couldn't help but laugh along when he asked in surprise, "You did?"

"For your birthday," she explained, taking his coat and tossing it aside. "You always do the cooking." She pulled out a chair for him and told him to sit. "I wanted to make your favorite meal because I thought it'd...you know, make you happy."

His hand found hers and both their smiles grew as the aroma of baked bread continued to float through the air, making both their stomachs growl. "It's perfect, Katniss. Really." She shrugged like it meant nothing and told him it should be ready any minute.

The bread wasn't burnt like a certain loaf all those years ago, and it wasn't perfect like the loaves he made, but Peeta proclaimed it was the best bread he'd ever had.

"I just wanted to make you happy," Katniss shyly told him again, blushing at his compliment. "After all you've done for me, it's the least I can do."

"Thank you for making this a memorable birthday." The earnestness in his voice proved that he meant every word and that made Katniss want to make all his birthdays this memorable. She liked hearing his light tone again. It gave her hope.

"Happy birthday, Peeta," and they clinked together small chunks of their bread and continued stuffing their mouths, laughing at how pale Effie would be if she saw them now.


End file.
